Tea at Trianon: Beauty Eras Worth Studying

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Beauty Eras Worth Studying

From Vogue:

Hairstyles among French women in the 18th century were big, colorful, and creative—and Marie Antoinette’s wigs, created by her hairdresser Léonard Autié, ushered in a trend for ostentatious hair that is fascinating to look at and read. Women used their wigs to communicate messages of political allegiances, marital status, and mood. One of the most famous examples of this is à la Belle Poule, which was the trend for wearing model ships in the hair to show support for French naval battles taking place at the time. People also dressed their hair with live birds in cages, urns with their loved one’s ashes, and vases of fresh flowers in water. Hairstyles provided women with a way of communicating in an era when they didn’t have a voice and their opinions weren’t welcome. However, they were also a prime example of conspicuous consumption and showcasing wealth. The bigger and more elaborate your hairstyle, the richer you were and the less involved with any sense of normal life you were—this wasn’t hair for looking after children or working a job. (Read more.)